Hard wire clevis for deadend



Nov. 30, 1965 L. D. swr-:ENEY 3,220,677

HARD WIRE CLEVIS FOR DEADEND Filed April 29, 196s United States Patent O 3,220,677 HARD WIRE CLEVIS FOR DEADEND Lewis D. Sweeney, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Reliable Electric Company, Franklin Park, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 276,456 4 Claims. (Cl. 248-49) This invention relates to an improved clevis for deadends.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved clevis for connecting the deadend cartridge to the eye of an insulator, and in particular to one which facilitates the insertion of the conductor into the deadend cartridge.

The customary clevis heretofore used is in the form of a U-shaped plate having a circular opening in the connecting part of the U for receiving the cartridge, and having aligned openings in the free ends for receiving the clevis pin, the width of the plate being of the order of an inch or more, that is, being greater than the diameter of the three openings so that the clevis can be fabricated from strip stock of uniform width.

Although, of course, the dimensions vary with regard to the diameter of the conductor to be received, as a rough parameter the distance between the larms of the U-shaped clevis is substantially the same as the width of the arms, 'or strip stock, and from two to three times the diameter of the cable. Thus, when the free end of the cable is threaded through the cartridge, it will project outwardly into the space bounded by the two arms of the clevis, and having a length of the order of four to six times the width. In other words, this space can be referred to as a cavity having a width and depth lof from two to three times the cable diameter, and being of a length which is insufficient with regard to the stiffness of this free cable end (the length, for example, being from ten to twenty times the cable diameter) to permit the free end to sag under its own weight to an extent where it projects through the bottom of the cavity, assuming that the clevis is maintained in a horizontal position,

Deadends are customarily installed by hot stick technique, and the geometry of the plate type clevis, as described above, makes it very difficult to grab the free end and yank it out of the cavity so that it can be pulled further through the cartridge incident to the tensioning of the conductor.

According to my invention, I provide a clevis the two arms of which are formed of so-called hard wire, with the result that the free end of the wire is not buriedin a cavity, but on the contrary is readily accessible to the hot stick tools.

A further advantage of my invention is that it is possible to make an improved corrosion resistant clevis at comparatively low cost. For instance, plate type devices may be formed of galvanized steel, but this is not as satisfactory as stainless steel in certain areas. Due to the cost of material and difficulty of working, it is not practical to fabricate a plate type clevis from -stainless steel.

According to my invention, the hard wire clevis is formed from stainless steel stock having a high tensile strength and is of a configuration which lprovides eflicient utilization of this relatively costly material. Furthermore, the closed end of the clevis has aligned loops for receiving the clevis pin, and terminates in a tail which cooperates with the eye bolt of the insulator to maintain the cartridge in an 'outstretched position which cooperates with the open work feature to materially facilitate the installation. The `arrangement is such that the tension on the clevis will not cause an unwinding and opening up of the hard wire loops.

3,220,677 Patented Nov. 30, 1965 ice Other objects, features and advantages of my invention will became apparent as the description proceeds.

With reference now t'o the drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a deadend embodying my improved clevis, as applied to a disk type insulator;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top View of a portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective View of the clevis itself; and

FIG. 4 is an end view of the yoke.

The assembly of FIG. l includes an insulator 10 and a deadend 11, the insulator comprising a porcelain disk 12 and an eye-bolt 13 having its shank 20 embedded in the porcelain part with the eye 27 projecting therefrom.

The deadend 11 comprises a wire gripping cartridge 14, a clevis 15, and a yoke 16 which connects the two.

As shown in FIG. 3, the clevis is formed of hard wire stock and comprises two substantially coplanar arms 17 having aligned loops 18 located near the closed end or connecting piece which latter forms a tail 19. When the parts are in the extended position shown, the tail 19 engages the shank 20 of the eye-bolt to maintain the deadend 11 in substantial .alignment with the axis of the insulator 10. The deadend 11 is secured to the eye-bolt 13 by means of a clevis pin 21 which passes through the loops 13 and the eye 27, and which is secured in position by a cotter pin 22.

The cartridge 14 is a wire gripping device, such as that shown in Jugle Patent No. 2,288,138 granted June 30, 1942, which permits the end of a conductor to be passed through the same from the narrow to the large end, that is, from left to right, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, but which prevents outward movement of the conductor due to the action of gripping jaws, not shown. The cartridge 14 is provided With a head 23 which engages the yoke 16. As shown in FIG. 4, the yoke 16 includes a central opening 24 for receiving the cartridge 14, and two slots 25 for receiving the headed ends 26 of the clevis arms 17. The general cooperation is shown in Cook Patent No. 2,180,977 issued November 21, 1939, and `an embossing 28 is provided in the cartridge 14 to prevent separation of the parts after assembly.

In operation, the deadend 11 can readily be installed in an insulator 10 by hot stick techniques which involve the Ialignment of the loops 18 with the eye 27, the insertion of the clevis pin 21, and the insertion of the cotter pin 22. The insulator 10, which can be expected to hang freely in the vertical position at this time, is then rotated into and maintained in a substantially horizontal position by hot stick tools, and this causes the deadend 11 to be rotated into the extended substantially horizontal position shown in FIG. 1. While the parts are thus maintained in horizontal position, the free end `of a conductor is aligned with the left end of the cartridge 14 and inserted therethrough by a hot stick tool. As the free end of the conductor emerges from the right or exit end of the cartridge, it will be seen that it is of considerably greater diameter than the diameter of the clevis arms 17 with the result that the free end can be engaged or caught by another tool and manipulated so that a firm grip can be obtained thereon, after which, tension applied to the free end will cause the wire to pass to the right through the cartridge 14 and permit the conductor to be tensioned.

Thus, the cooperation of the small dimensions of the clevis arms 17 with the outwardly extended position provided by the cooperation of the tail 19 and the shank 20, greatly facilitates the threading and tensioning of the conductor.

In the plate type of clevis previously mentioned, when the cartridge is maintained horizontal and the insulator permitted to hang vertically, the skirt of the insulator interferes with the manipulation of the parts incident to threading, and if the insulator is held horizontally, then a separate tool and pair of hands is required in addition to the tool which engages the cartridge. Therefore it will be seen that according to my invention, it is not necessary to use a separate tool for maintaining the cartridge in a horizontal position.

One characteristic of stainless hard wire stock is the difficulty lof forming same. According to my invention, I have provided a clevis configuration in which the loops 18 are disposed entirely to one side of the common plane in which the arms 17 are disposed,thus avoiding Sharp bends and small radius curves.

Although only a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described herein, it will be understood that various modifications-and changes may be made in the construction shown without departing from the scope of the invention as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A clevis for a deadend, the deadend including a cartridge and a yoke for connecting said cartridge to said clevis, comprising a U-shaped length of stainless steel hard wire stock having two clevis arms and a connecting portion, a loop formed in each of said clevis arms near said connecting portion, and said connecting portion being offset to one side to form a tail for engagement with the shank of an eye-bolt when said loops are aligned with the eye of said eye-bolt and connected thereto by a clevis pin, said clevis arms being headed at their free ends.

2. A clevis for a deadend, the deadend including a cartridge and a yoke for connecting said cartridge to said clevis, comprising a U-shaped length of stainless steel hard wire stock having two headed clevis arms and a connecting portion, a loop formed in each of said clevis arms near said connecting portion, and said connecting portion being disposed at an angle to said clevis arms to form a tail lfor embracing the shank of an eye-bolt W en said loops are aligned with the eye of said eye-bolt and connected thereto by a clevis pin.

3. A clevis for a deadend, the deadend including a cartridge and a yoke for connecting said cartridge to said clevis, comprising a U-shaped length of stainless steel hard wire stock having two clevis arms and a connecting portion, a loop formed in each of said clevis arms near said connecting portion and the free ends thereof being p coplanar, said loops being disposed on one side of the common plane in which said free ends are disposed, and said connecting portion being inclined away from said common plane and offset to one side to form a tail for engagement with the shank of an eye-bolt when said loops are aligned with the eye of said eye-bolt and connected thereto by a clevis pin.

4. A deadend for use with a disk-type insulator having an eye-bolt comprising a cartridge, a clevis, and a yoke for connecting said cartridge to said clevis, said clevis comprising a U-shaped length of hard wire stock having two arms and a connecting portion, a loop formed in each of said arms near said connecting portion, and the free ends thereof being coplanar, said loops being aligned with each other for cooperation with the eye of said eye bolt and disposed on one side of the common plane in which said free ends are disposed and said connecting portion being inclined away from said common plane and offset to one side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 17,487 11/1929 Heinz 211-181 X 2,180,977 11/1939 Cook 287-75 2,446,142 7/1948 Root 248-302 X 2,640,867 6/ 1953 Clements 248-65 X 2,700,199 1/1955 Buckley 24-123 2,903,284 9/ 1959 Becker et al. 287-75 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CLEVIS FOR A DEADENED, THE DEADEND INCLUDING A CARTRIDGE AND A YOKE FOR CONNECTING SAID CARTRIDGE TO SAID CLEVIS, COMPRISING A U-SHAPED LENGTH OF STAINLESS STEEL HARD WIRE STOCK HAVING TWO CLEVIS ARMS AND A CONNECTING PORTION, A LOOP FORMED IN EACH OF SAID CLEVIS ARMS NEAR SAID CONNECTING PORTION, AND SAID CONNECTING PORTION BEING OFFSET TO ONE SIDE TO FORM A TAIL FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SHANK OF AN EYE-BOLT WHEN SAID LOOPS ARE ALIGNED WITH THE EYE OF SAID EYE-BOLT AND CONNECTED THERETO BY A CLEVIS PIN, SAID CLEVIS ARMS BEING HEADED AT THEIR FREE ENDS. 